Medbery makes bid for Dover mayor

These were the words spoken by resident Don Medbery when asked Tuesday why he decided to file as a candidate for mayor for the upcoming November election.

Medbery joins two others in the race for one of the city's top elected positions — current interim Mayor Dean Trefethen and resident Mary Hebbard.

"This is my chance to share with the citizens of this city what has really gone on," said Medbery, who frequents city events, rallies and meetings to voice his opinion on a number of controversial issues. "When you sum it all up, it has been nothing but overspending and under-managing."

Medbery said he signed on as a candidate only minutes before the filing period ended Monday after he was contacted by several Garrison City residents who he said urged him to run.

"They wanted change, and I know I could give them that," said Medbery. "If I'm honorably elected as the mayor of Dover, I'm going to represent the citizens and not the establishment."

The outspoken resident said he believes his leadership experience in the business world and his many years of fine-tuning his management skills markets him as an appropriate choice for mayor. Having stated in the past that former mayors have influenced City Councils to vote a certain way on subjects, Medbery said he would apply his managerial skills in a way that would not direct or influence the individual councilors' decisions.

Between an extensive history as a businessman who associated with companies such as Peterbilt Motors Company and Alta-Dena Dairy in California, as well as founding what he said is rated one of the top log home companies in the country, Medbery said he is quite good at altering an entity's approach to doing business.

"I am a people person and a hands-on person," he said. "I do not distance myself from challenges."

When Foster's asked which areas of interest he would tackle if the voters elected him as mayor during the Nov. 8 election, Medbery immediately cited a couple of hot topic areas he would address.

The first subject he addressed is the city's use of its tax cap, something Medbery and a few other residents have sued the city over and has spoken heatedly about at countless City Council meetings. The most recent tax-cap related discussion centered around changing the formula used to determine how much the tax levy can increase from one year to the next.

"I think the tax cap is fine just the way it is," said Medbery. "The populous voted for it that way."

The proposal residents will vote on this fall seeks to alter the current formula from using the one-year national average Consumer Price Index to a regional Boston area CPI, as city officials have said it more appropriately reflects the Dover area and its residents.

"I don't believe in the regional Boston CPI," said Medbery, noting he is very familiar with the formula as he was raised in Boston. "City officials only supported it because they knew it could balloon their salaries up, but it doesn't represent the taxpayers."

As a candidate, Medbery said he will also be vocal about addressing and altering the city's affiliation with the Local Government Center, a relationship that has been under fire recently. Noting he strongly believes the LGC serves no purpose other than to extract more funds from the taxpayers to support the center's own employee base, Medbery said he would do everything in his power if elected as mayor to withdraw the city from its costly LGC membership.

"City of Dover taxpayers were not well served by this city's council, mayor and manager who have OK'd thousands upon thousands of dollars to be a part of an organization that doesn't give the taxpayers any advantage," he said. "The people need to get what they pay for through their constituents. Nothing more, nothing less."

Though some of his proposed platforms may appear drastic to some, Medbery said such changes are the only things that will put Dover on the path toward measurable, long-term betterment.